I think the biggest …

I think the biggest thing to note in John Kerry’s speech last night was it was further confirmation that this convention has been an attempt to re-invent him and cover up his record. There was far more said in his speech (and his biopic) about his service in Vietnam than his Senate voting record. This is not to minimize his military service by any means, but his policies matter far more to me. Military service, at least to me, as never been more than a mitigating factor in choosing who I think should run the country; it’s a good plus, but many other issues can outweigh it.

The words “Senate” and “vote” each only appear once, and in the same sentence, when he mentioned his vote for a balanced budget and for Clinton’s “100,000 cops” bill. Other than that, there was precious little to really latch on to and say what he will do specifically. A stronger military? You mean, as I said before when he previously tried to define himself, stronger than the one that went through Iraq like a hot knife through quagmire? A bigger health care system? Like the one in Canada where folks run across the border to the U.S. when they really want to get help? Your Attorney General will be one “who actually upholds the Constitution”? Well then why does your platform support the Patriot Act, the main bit of legislation you accuse of ripping up said document?

Oh, and the whole “patriotism” thing. Look fella, the Republicans didn’t claim exclusive rights to patriotism. What happened is that the Democrats discarded it, and only pull it out when it’s needed to get votes. When there are Democrats that instinctively have a negative association with the flag allegedly being a “gun-toting, flag-waving, Bush-loving” symbol, that’s an indication of a patriotism of convenience, not of spirit. No one has questioned the patriotism of you, or Max Cleland who introduced you. If anything, the association so closely with Michael Moore who calls Americans “possibly the dumbest people on the planet” does not help in this regard. Actions such as these don’t speak highly of you at all.

As I said this was a re-inventing of John Kerry, one in which it is required you ignore his voting record, which would reflect his real values, notwithstanding the platitudes he rattled off in his speech. And that is the hallmark of a candidate who, like Bill Clinton did masterfully, will try to play the chameleon; telling you what you want to hear long enough to get him into office where he doesn’t have to follow through on his promises because the faithful will keep him there. Clinton campaigned hard on the “middle class tax cut” issue, for example, then dropped it promptly upon walking into the Oval Office. Kerry’s campaigning the same way. I hope America doesn’t get snookered by it again.

UPDATE: Q&O has a similar take (“specifics, please?”), but of course in a far more in-depth format. And Kerry wants to be judged on his record, when he didn’t present his record, nor do his new policies harmonize with his record.

So I beg to differ with Mr. Kerry when he says “I ask you to judge me by my record”. He really doesn’t want that at all. He wants you to judge him on the facade he’s erected, the platitudes and vague plans he’s put out there and to vote for him because he isn’t George Bush.

It’ll be interesting if the one actual plan he has works or whether people will actually take him at his word and judge him by his record.

A very good article by McQ.

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